Kamloops Amateur Radio Club

The North American QSO Parties are favorites of beginners and seasoned operators alike. The NAQPs are low-power only (no amplifiers allowed) which makes for a lot more breathing room on the bands. Small stations can generate very effective “runs” in the NAQP  contests. Multipliers count once per-band, which makes for an exciting format, as multipliers can be “moved” from band to band.

The NAQPs allow stations from all parts of North America to be in the running for the top spots. The 12 hour format allows participants to do some great contesting, yet still have time for other activities during the weekend. Participants can enter in the single op or multi-op categories and also have the opportunity to combine up to five separate single op scores into a team score.

North American QSO Party, CW    1800Z, Jan 15 to 0559Z, Jan 16

North American QSO Party, SSB    1800Z, Jan 22 to 0559Z, Jan 23

North American QSO Party, RTTY    1800Z, Feb 26 to 0559Z, Feb 27

 

 

If you were listening to VE7RLO this morning you may have noticed that the Rainbow Country Net (hosted on the VE7RPT repeater in the lower mainland) was active on our VHF and UHF repeaters.

VE7RLO will now automatically connect every day to the Rainbow Country Net, which starts at 09:00 AM PST (with early check-ins at 8:45 AM).  This is one of the most popular nets in BC with hundreds of people checking in.   VE7RLO will automatically disconnect from the net at 10:30AM, so hopefully you can check in by that time!  If not, we can tweak the script timing.

If you need to use the repeater during the net to call someone, or if there is an emergency, etc you can disconnect the VE7RPT Allstar Node by sending DTMF code *1435450 (which will disconnect VE7RPT), or *10 (code to disconnect the last active node, which should be RPT).

Don't worry about reconnecting to the net, it will start up automatically the next morning.

If you find this annoying and driving you crazy, please let me know.  This is a bit of an experiment to see if it might be enjoyable for club members.  If it is not working for people, it is easy to scrub the script and go back to how things were.

73 de Myles, VE7FSR

 

 

 

At the December club meeting Lee Woldanski, VE7FET, was recognized as the recipient of the 2021 Ham of the Year Award for his outstanding volunteer efforts and commitment to amateur radio. Lee was presented (virtually) with a handsome wood and brass plaque to recognize his outstanding devotion to amateur radio and to the countless hours of volunteer time, donated equipment, education, and the remote support he has provided to make amateur radio better and more enjoyable for all of us in the KARC and amateur radio fraternity.

Lee lives in South Surrey, and is an active member and Director of the BCFMCA.  Lee met Myles (VE7FSR) several years ago and over time Myles somehow managed to coerce Lee into lending a hand to our Club (which was easy to do because Lee is an amazing person, willing to give his time and expertise to help others).  Lee became a member of the KARC, and he has been very involved in the design, build, installation, maintenance, and operation of the KARC repeater systems.  Lee has also offered advice and assistance to the KARC Board based on his extensive experience serving with the BCFMCA.  If it wasn't for Lee the KARC wouldn't have the fantastic repeater system we are very fortunate to have.  Thank you Lee, we sincerely appreciate all you have done for the KARC.

The "Ham of the Year Award" for the Kamloops club was instituted in 1971 by George Stephens (VE7YF, SK).  Please see this link for past recipients.

W1ZR Joel Hallas

Retired QST Technical Editor Joel R. Hallas, W1ZR, of Westport, Connecticut, died on November 25. An ARRL member, he was 79. Hallas retired in 2013 but remained active as a contributing editor, handling the popular “The Doctor is In” column in QST and the podcast of the same name. He had been a radio amateur since 1955.

“Joel was not only brilliant, he shared that brilliance with the ham radio community in a way that taught innumerable hams things they needed to know in order to experience success and enjoyment,” said ARRL Publications and Editorial Department Manager Becky Schoenfeld, W1BXY. “He was a fine mind, a generous mentor and colleague, and a consummate gentleman. He will be missed.”

VE7EKC  Reginald Walter Gale    

March 10, 1940 – November 8, 2021

A long-time resident of Logan Lake, Reg passed away peacefully with his loving children by his side in Penticton.  Predeceased by his loving wife of 50 years (the love of his life), Gladys May Gale, his sister June, and brothers Cameron, Fred, and Doug.  He will be sadly missed by his son, Donald Gale (Rhonda), daughter Deborah Mueller (Wayne), grandchildren Martina, Melanie (Ray), Andrew, and Daniel, great-grandchildren Alexander and Elias, sisters Bernice (Johnny), Colleen, Marion (Brian), and brother Edward.  Reg is survived by his second wife Beryl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am please to share with the membership that Vern, VE7VGO is now home from the hospital after his auto accident.  It will take a bit before he is fully back to normal, but if you get a chance give him a call on the repeater or twisted-pair. 

Great to see you home, Vern!

At the 2021 Annnual General Meeting, two KARC members were recognized for their outstanding service to the club. 

Vern, VE7VGO, was nominated for a Life Membership in recognition of, and appreciation for, his many years of service to the club.  Vern has been a mentor and role model for many of us in the club; he served as a Club Officer for many years, and his contribution to our repeater network, club events (Field Day!!), and volunteer activities have helped make the KARC what it is today. 

Congratulations, and thank you Vern!

 

 

 

IMG_0539_Chuck_AWard.jpg

Chuck Hays, VE7PJR, was recognized for his service to the club as our Net Control station for the Tuesday and Wednesday evening 2M nets.  Chuck was presented with a plaque as a gesture of our sincere appreciation for his many hundreds of hours of volunteer time as Net Control.  Without Chuck's tireless effort and dedication we would not have our nets.

Thank you, Chuck!

Four members of the club assisted to safely take down the tower of former club member Al McKnight (SK).  His wife Barb contacted the club in late May and asked for our assistance.

Myles (VE7FSR) scoped out and planned the project with Barb, and in September Myles, Mark (VE7ALN), Chuck (VE7PJR), and Peter (VE7DNZ) got together over two evenings to take down the tower.  On the first evening Myles removed the old satellite dish, VHF antenna brackets, and lowered the two sections of aluminum masting.  He also got the rigging ready for the next evening when the team would be taking down the tower itself.

Peter brought the club gin pole, and Myles and Peter lifted off the tower sections and carefully passed them down to Chuck and Mark.  Fortunately Al had used stainless fasteners and anti-seize so everything came apart fairly easily.  It didn't take long and the tower sections were down in the back yard.  A few more minutes with a pipe wrench and a long extension and the bolts were off the mast base plate.

It was really nice to be able to assist Barb with this project, and I sincerly appreciate the help of Chuck, Mark and Peter in helping to make this possible.  Thank you!

I would like to introduce you to our newest KARC member Iain Tynan- VE7FXJ/VE7IET.

Iain has lived for 20 years in Kamloops with his family, and he has worked at Royal Inland Hospital since his arrival in Kamloops, first as an internist and currently as a hospitalist.

When Iain was in university he had friend with an amateur license and his friend introduced Iain to some fellow hams and soon Iain became hooked on listening to shortwave. Unfortunately, given time constraints, he did not get his own license until 2000.

Iain is looking forward to being part of the KARC, and is interested in learning from others.  His current rig is a Yaesu FT- 857 (but he also has an older Kenwood TS-690S) and uses a variety of wire dipoles (my wife is not too happy with them). He also has a Buddipole antenna for portable use, as well as an Icom 2100 for VHF.

If you hear Iain on the radio please give him a call.

Welcome to the KARC, Iain, and thank you for becoming a member!

Pacific Northwest DX Convention

Registration is now open for the 2021 PNW DX Convention sponsored by the Willamette Valley DX Club in Portland, OR.  Registration is free and open to everyone since this is a virtual convention.  Technical sessions and prizes are still under development by the convention committee.  Please check the PNW DX Convention website for the latest info.

The in-person convention scheduled for August, 2021 has been cancelled.  The WVDXC will be holding a one day virtual convention via Zoom instead.  The date is Saturday Aug 7, 2021.  All hams are welcome.

Convention History: The PNW DX Convention has been held every summer since 1955 with the sponsorship rotating between the major DX clubs of the Pacific Northwest.  The 66th Annual Convention will be hosted by the Willamette Valley DX Club.

Together, these organizations have upheld the rich traditions of amateur radio and the pursuit of DX through five solar cycles. Over the decades, we have enjoyed wonderful friendships and the very special international cameraderie that ham radio fosters in the Pacific Northwest and around the world.

http://pacificnwdxconvention.com/

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PSAT2 (NO-104) Satellite VHF Transceiver is Alive with Innovative Mode

Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, says the PSAT2 VHF transceiver awoke from an 8-month slumber on April 26. "We have no idea why. Its telemetry looks fine," Bruninga said.

Voltage is between 6.2 and 7.0 V and exterior temperatures are between -18° and 22° C. PSAT2 will not be in Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) mode, but in a brand-new experimental mode for dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) uplink (145.980 MHz) and voice downlink.

"You pre-load your grid and call sign into a 16-digit DTMF memory in your radio, and when the satellite hears this it will assign a QSO number and QSL the grid by voice and then generate an APRS packet," Bruninga explained.

There's even a way to send back a DTMF QSL, so you can make it a two-way DTMF contact. Successful DTMF grids and messages will appear on a special URL on the PSAT2 page.

To QSL, key in that station's 2-digit QSL number and then dump your pre-loaded QSL DTMF message. Bruninga adds, "Read the docs and be sure you know what you are doing." A PSAT2 Users Operations Manual is available on the PSAT2 web page.

http://aprs.org/psat2.html